Offered to the Triplet Alphas

[Xanthea]

Taken aback, I gaped at the woman sitting in the wheelchair in her pristine aura - the High lady of the house and the triplet's mother.

Lady Demetria was dressed in a flowing, pure white gown. Her eyes were covered with a white blindfold. Every strand of her silky long hair was as white as snow.

But it was the contrast in her body and face that caught my attention instantly. The time seemed to have affected just her body. Her face remained youthful, bright and beautiful, as though completely untouched by time. Meanwhile, from her neck and her skeleton thin finger, I couldn't even imagine how old she was.

Two women walked behind her. They, too, were dressed in pure white gowns. From a glance at them, it was difficult to tell their age, but from the age range of my realm, they looked to be in their forties, both body and face.

I dissolved somewhere in the background and that's where I wished to remain as the Xipher family came together.

"Nesryn, so good to see you, darling. How have you been?" The woman on the left with hair a beautiful mix of white, black and gray stretched out her hands towards Nesryn for a hug.

"Mother," Nesryn walked into her embrace as they shared a warm hug.

"Cedric, did you get another piercing in your ear?" The woman standing on the right side of the High lady walked to Cedric and pulled his ear to look at the piercing.

Her hair was completely black, and she looked the youngest of all the three wives of the previous alpha.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Mom! It hurts."

"I told you to stop getting holes punctured in your body, didn't I?" Lady Alessia twisted Cedric's ear. His new piercing started bleeding again.

"Mom!" Cedric groaned as he struggled his ear out of her grip.

"You get another piercing and you'll go straight back to your torture school," Lady Alessia said.

"As much as I would love to go back there, I need to finish this assassination course with the bright colors of my brothers' blood and prove to them I am better than them!" Cedric said, using a handkerchief to stop his ears from bleeding. I looked towards Nesryn's mother, Lady Letitia, who was updating herself with Nesryn's life.

"I know being a spy is your expertise, sweetie. But I am your mother. How can I not spy on you? I am worried about you and your well being. Is it a crime for a mother to make sure by all means possible that her baby girl is alright?"

"Of course you can, mother. Just don't kill all my ex-boyfriends. What if someday I wanna return to some of them?" Nesryn shrugged.

"Oh dear, they dare break my little princess' heart. I carve their hearts right out of their bodies. And break them into pieces so small you can barely see them," Lady Letitia said with a warm and soft smile.

"I get you, mother. But no one can break my heart because I don't put my heart in their hands. No man in this world is worth it," Nesryn said and lady Letitia broke into happy tears as she hugged Nesryn proudly once again.

"That's right, honey. That's so right! That's what you do in real life. You use boys until you meet your man and never put your heart in someone else's hand. My daughter has finally turned into a blooming, bewitching, and intelligent woman." She said in a dreamy voice, as though she were reciting a romantic sonnet.

"Love you, mother," Nesryn hugged Lady Letitia while she hugged her back and kissed Nesryn's forehead.

"Mother loves you too, honey."

A shudder ran through my body and I couldn't tell if it was because of how warmly they made me feel cold in my guts or because of the High lady's locus of attention that weighed on my shoulders.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

"Come to me." High lady's words echoed like a whisper in the silence that had engulfed the hall again.

Nesryn and Cedric stepped aside with their mothers, making a clear path between me and the High lady.

I tensed up and slowly stepped closer to her, keeping my gaze low. Seared under the scrutiny of everyone else, I stood right in front of the High Lady.

She reached out her shaking fingers to my face.

Lifting the hem of my gown, I kneeled on the floor in front of her wheelchair.

I shut my eyes as her fingers traced every line on my face. The ringing silence prevailed. Her hand trailed down my face, over my chest.

My heart pounded beneath the warmth of her palm for minutes before she withdrew her hand from me and placed it on the armrest of the wheelchair.

She remained silent, her expression changed as if she was lost in deep thoughts.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"M-my name is Xanthea Plath Xipher, your highness," I said, lowering my head slightly.

"Xanthea..." she called out my name and goosebumps ran throughout my body. For reasons unknown, my name sounded a lot more powerful from her lips than it had ever before. "Y-yes, your highness?" I looked at her.

"You know you need to conceive their triplets, right?" she asked in a soft tone.

I lowered my gaze, biting my inner lip.

"Yes, your highness," I said with a quick gulp.

"Your only role in this family is as a breeder, for my sons will never see you as anything more than that."

Biting back my tears, I nodded. "I understand-"

"No. You don't."

I blinked at her blankly. She was referring to what had happened last night with Raven and Ezra.

"I'm sorry... I..." I said, swallowing the lump in my throat.

She reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Calm down, Xanthea. You don't need to apologize. What happened last night was different, which means maybe my sons saw you differently than their previous brides. And that is why I came here today to meet you..." her soothing voice turned hoarse.

She coughed, covering her mouth with her trembling hand.

"To see how you were different. And I don't understand. Your soul is weak and so is your body. You don't even have a wolf spirit. Forget about bearing their children. In this state, I am afraid you can't even conceive."

I didn't know how to react to her or feel about myself and this whole situation.

00000

It was true I was wolfless, but how did she know? Could it be that she sensed it in my soul when she placed her hand on my chest?

Her cough slowly turned more violent.

I got up and stood aside as Lady Letitia and Lady Alessia hurried beside the High lady.

"You shouldn't have left your room, high lady," Nesryn said, covering her mouth with a white handkerchief. Breathing through her nose, High lady wheezed.

The handkerchief covering her mouth turned completely red.

A maid ran and brought an intricately carved wooden box. Externally, it looked like an ancient potion box, but it was filled with dried medicinal herbs in transparent glass vials.

I tensed my brows.

These plants and herbs.

I had seen and read about them in my mother's books. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find these herbs in my realm.

Lady Letitia gasped, "oh my. You haven't been taking your medicine again."

"Raven is not going to be happy about this. You should have taken your medicines like he prescribed you to." Nesryn threw in some herbs and crushed them in mortar and pestle.

"I don't think he even cares. Moreover..." High lady cleared her throat. "These medicines no longer work."

Another maid brought boiling water.

I analyzed High lady's physical condition again. I could see my mother's book in my mind. The pages flipped until I reached the page with a rough drawing of a woman with similar physical condition as High lady.

"Thintoathanasia, also known as the mortal immortality sickness, where instead of the entire body, either brain or heart of an immortal loses its immortality, causing the body to age differently. It can be caused because of uneven distribution or concentration of immortality factors in the body," I read through the page in my mind, not even realizing that I had spoken it out loud.

Almost everyone in the hall, including High lady, gaped at me blankly.

Nesryn squinted her eyes. "How did you know about High lady's sickness?"